Jungle rancor

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"I don't like the sound of that."
"And I don't like the look of that. We don't want to scare 'em."

―Ahsoka Tano and Anakin Skywalker encounter a crash of jungle rancors^[3]

The jungle rancor, also known as the hunter rancor, was a subspecies of the reptilian, semi-sentient rancor species native to the planet Felucia.

Biology and appearance[]

An enormous^[5] subspecies of the reptilian,^[2] semi-sentient^[1] rancor species, jungle rancors,^[2] also known as hunter rancors,^[7] had clearly defined shells and proportions resembling that of a turtle, with larger heads relative to the rest of their bodies.^[4] Orange and gray^[3] spines that ran along their bodies^[2] and the sides of their tongues.^[6] They had brightly colored^[2] blue and gray skin, a pair of eyes with black pupils, brown irises, and yellow sclerae, beaked mouths, and webbed hands^[3] and feet.^[6] Their unique physiology imbued them with greater speed and a keener sense of smell than other rancor subspecies.^[7]

Behavior[]

Vicious, nasty, and more nimble than other beasts of their size, jungle rancors were capable predators preferred to chase down living prey.^[7]

Jungle rancors in the galaxy[]

Negotiations — Blue rancors roamed the colorful jungles of Felucia.

Though native to the jungles of the planet Felucia,^[5] where they lived in herds^[8] and co-existed in relative harmony with the local Felucian farmers, jungle rancors could also be found on the planet Teth.^[2]

In 21 BBY,^[9] Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and Ahsoka Tano encountered a herd of jungle rancors on Felucia, which they were careful not to startle.^[3]

Behind the scenes[]

Appearance[]

"It had a clearly defined shell. The proportions looked more like a turtle, and it had a much bigger head relative to the test of its body. All these little bumps and stuff give it some scale, so you could believe that this thing was forty feet high."

―Kilian Plunkett, on the design of the jungle rancor^[4]

Hunter rancor — The jungle rancor's original design in *Star Wars: Commander*, where it was given the name "hunter rancor," before being updated to give it *The Clone Wars* design.

The jungle rancor was originally developed for the Star Wars: The Clone Wars feature film, where it was set to appear in a scene set during the Battle of Teth where a dramatic lightsaber duel between Anakin Skywalker and Asajj Ventress was staged on top of it, though it was ultimately cut from the final film.^[4] Despite this, it eventually appeared in "Bounty Hunters," the seventeenth episode of the canon animated series Star Wars: The Clone Wars' second season,^[3] which originally aired on April 2, 2010.^[10]

The jungle rancor began as a cartoon version of the classic rancor from Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi, but at Dave Filoni's suggestion, lead artist Kilian Plunkett gave it a horny shell, developing the creature into a new breed resembling Gamera, a Godzilla-like Japanese movie monster. Plunkett brought in a sea turtle to give Tim Brock, The Clone Wars's lead texture artist, ideas for texture, so it would be similar to what you would see in nature. The design had several names before jungle rancor was decided upon, including "snapper rancor," "sea rancor," "swamp rancor," "ranc-turtle," and "turt-ancor."^[4]

Deleted scene[]

In the year 22 BBY,^[9] a jungle rancor was held captive in an abandoned B'omarr Order Monastery on Teth. During the Battle of Teth, Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker and his Padawan Ahsoka Tano dueled Sith apprentice Asajj Ventress in the monastery's rancor pit. Skywalker ordered Tano to escape with Rotta,^[11] the son of Hutt crime lord Jabba Desilijic Tiure, who Ventress was attempting to retrieve to convince Jabba to side with the Confederacy of Independent Systems.^[12] However, as Tano opened a large door on the side of the room on her way out, she accidentally set the jungle rancor loose. Skywalker and Ventress leaped onto the creature's back and continued their duel, and the creature rounded on Tano and the Huttlet. Seeing this, Skywalker slashed at the rancor's back, causing it to violently buck. Tano attacked the rancor, stabbing it in the foot, and the rancor threw the two duelists from its back. The creature rounded on Tano; however, as it leaned toward her, Tano brought up her lightsaber and drove the weapon into its nose. The rancor fell back in pain and sat on Ventress, allowing the Jedi to escape with the Huttlet. As Ventress ignited one of her lightsabers into the rancor's rear, the creature reared up and clung to the ceiling, freeing the Sith apprentice.^[11]